Interview: 'Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid' Brings Your Favorite Show To Tabletop Life
How It Came About
Heroes of the Grid is the much-anticipated foray into the popular Tabletop genre for Power Rangers, and it started a while ago.
"So Saban, which used to own Power Rangers, they approached us and asked if we wanted to make a Power Rangers tabletop game, Loe said. "We were like, "Yes we do! Yes, we do actually." And then we found Jonathan who was working on some game designs and he's a humongous Power Rangers fan.
Jonathan Ying previously worked on games like Star Wars Imperial Assault for Fantasy Flight Games, and pairing him with the Power Rangers license was a match made in heaven.
"He knows everything, so it was perfect," Loe said. "We were like, "Hey, Jonathan, can you do this thing?" And he was like, "Yeah, absolutely." So he's been working on it for about a year now. Even though we just announced it a couple days ago. And it's been live on Kickstarter for only three days. It's perfect. We funded in seven and a half hours."
prevnextFaithful to the Franchise
The game aims to bring some of the iconic locations and characters from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to life, and the team did a lot of research to make that happen.
"Yes," Loe said. "We all did. We watched the movies, we've seen a bunch of the episodes. Thank you, Netflix. But also Hasbro's been an amazing help. Like a bunch of the people we work with used to work at Saban, so they are just plethoras of information. Jason, in particular, is someone we work with closely and he's like, "No, this is from this episode or this issue"
That research also applies to the miniatures themselves, even the smallest details.
"We worked closely with them on the artwork and also the sculpts to make sure we got all of the details," Loe said. "And then they're like, "You forgot the fringe on this part." And we're like, "You're right, we did forget that and that's very important" (laughter). No, it's fun though. They help a lot."
Hit the next slide for HyperForce!
prevnextHyperForce
Fans were ecstatic to see HyperForce included as part of the game, but it didn't start out that way.
"No, because that's Hyper RPG, HyperForce," Loe said. "We've known Zac and Malika from Hyper RPG for a little bit, and we wanted to support them. They're local-ish ... we're in San Diego. They're in L.A. So it just seemed like an awesome collaboration. More fan-made content became part of the universe.
Not only is that part of the universe part of the game, but the team is also getting its own miniatures, which isn't cheap. That's where launching on Kickstarter comes in handy.
"The nice thing about Kickstarter is that we can gauge fans' reactions and see what they're interested in and how far they want to push things and how far they want to grow this product in the world. So we have a whole bunch of ideas and a whole bunch of stretch goals, some of which we haven't even announced because we want to gauge that. So Hyper Force made sense as a first like, "There's more to this and we can do a lot more."
prevnextMore Rangers
The first team up to bat is the Mighty Morphin team, which is understandable, but Renegade has heard the fans in regards to wishing other teams were involved.
"There are so many iterations of Power Rangers, that we went with the original, the OG team, cause everyone knows that," Loe said. "But we see it online people are like, "I want the Space Rangers. I want these other ones"
To be fair that "Space Rangers" request guy was probably me...
Before they can get to those though they have to start with the foundation, and that's Mighty Morphin. Thing is, some of those wishes might end up coming true.
"We may already be working on some of those," Loe said. "We can't say yet, but we definitely, the things on Kickstarter, that's not all we have planned."
prevnextThe Megazord
While most of the time fans will be fighting as the Rangers themselves, you can unlock the ability to utilize the Megazord as you take down enemies, and can even snag a large-sized miniature for him.
"As we play and defeat enemies they'll fill up this Level Up track," Loe said. "Each time we defeat some enemies we reveal a card, which is a Zord. So if we reveal, if we Level Up to the sixth level we get the Megazord, and he's just Baller. He makes our lives a whole lot easier. Right now in the game, he's just a token, so having this humongous Megazord just plop down on Angel Grove, it really improves the gaming experience I'd say."
Now, most of the enemies are not the same size as the Megazord, so there's no "make my monster grow" function in the game. "I'd say Goldar is in his growing stage compared to a normal Ranger," Loe said. "In the show, they're human height, but no, there's no mini Goldar."
Loe added, "You know, that's an idea", so who knows.
prevnextHow It Plays
Early reactions to the game have shown that fans are taking to the combat system, which doesn't split-up turns by individual players but by the Rangers as a whole.
"It's really elegant actually," Loe said. "So we'll reveal enemy cards equal to the number of enemies in a location. They have different health and each one has a different effect so they'll do things. Say we have three Super Putties in the park. How combat works is Rangers take an action, then the enemy. Ranger, enemy. And the Rangers don't have turns within themselves because it's cooperative. We will decide together who has the best card to fight."
As you fight enemies you might be able to take them down before they've had a chance to act, and if you do that you create an opening for the Rangers to have multiple attacks in a row.
"So I'll fight," Loe said. "Then this enemy will activate. But if we killed him first, we'll flip him over. We'll still tap him, we'll use him, but nothing happens. It's super thematic because sometimes the Rangers, they ramp up and they get some momentum. They are going to attack multiple times. It would really be less fun if it was just like cut and dry."
Your deck of cards is where you draw your actions from, but they also act as your health.
"For health, it's your deck of cards," Loe said. "So each Ranger has 10 cards in your hand, 10 cards in your deck. A hand of five. If you take damage from an enemy, you're going to reveal the top card of your deck. That's how many points of damage you can deflect. And you'll keep drawing cards until you've blocked it all."
This is indicated by Shield symbols at the bottom of your cards, but the more you have to draw the lower your health becomes.
"So you're thinning your deck," Loe said. "If you run out of cards in your deck ... not in your hand, but in your deck, you have to go back to the command center and refresh."
Hit the next slide to see what happens at the Command Center.
prevnextHow To Win Or Lose
If you end up needing to return to the Command Center (in the center of the board) not all is lost, but you will be out of the action for a bit and there is a limit.
"There's also a timer there," Loe said. "If three Rangers have to do that, we lose the game. So that's one way of losing."
You also have to be mindful of the city you're protecting if you don't want the game to slip out of your hands.
"Another way is managing Angel Grove," Loe said. "Each area has a Panic Limit and that number indicates how many monsters can be in that location without people freaking out and being like, "Ah! There's a monster in my backyard." If all four locations are panicked, that's another way to lose, so we're describing this as a cooperative tower defense game because we're defending angel grove."
prevnextWhat's To Come
While Renegade has shown off quite a bit of Heroes of the Grid's gameplay and Kickstarter Stretch Goals, there is more to come if funding keeps pushing forward.
While everyone has their wishlist, for Loe it is all about the monster-sized Goldar. "I know everyone wants the Green Ranger, but I really want Goldar," Loe said. "He's amazing, and he looks so good painted."
He does look impressive, but Loe is also excited about the goals they haven't shown off. "Even more so, I want the stretch goals that we haven't revealed yet. There are some really cool ones," Loe said.
During Power Morphicon Renegade did add Cyclopsis to the game and just today they revealed that Alpha 5 would also be coming to Heroes of the Grid, but odds are there's even more where those came from.
prevnextShattered Grid Expansion And More
Fans are truly excited for the Shattered Grid expansion, but Loe did make sure to point out that even if you miss out on that particular set in the Kickstarter you can still get it later on.
"The Shattered Grid expansion is not Kickstarter exclusive," Loe said. "That will be available at retail, and like I said, we are still working on stuff so anything outside the Kickstarter will also be retail."
It also sounds like a few more additions will be coming down the pike after the Kickstarter, so if you can make sure to let your local game store know you want anything coming later on for the game.
prevnextFinal Details
Speaking of your local game store, they will be getting the game a little later than Kickstarter backers, but not by much.
"So we're planning on shipping this to backers in spring of 2019," Loe said. "And then it will be in game stores online in the summer."
You can find more information on what the Kickstarter holds below.
The base level (It's Morphin Time) will cost you $75, and will come with the core game, but no Kickstarter exclusives. A new tier has just been announced though that will get you the base game and the stretch goals for $90 dollars.
The Go Go Power Rangers level will net you the game, the Green With Evil expansion Kickstarter exclusive, the White Light Expansion Kickstarter exclusive, and the Rita Repulsa Alternate Sculpt Kickstarter exclusive for $150.
The Morphin Master! - All In! set will net you all of the above, as well as the Shattered Grid Expansion, the Foot Soldier Pack, the Ranger Dice Set, the Megazord, and all of the future unlocked stretch goals for $240.
The Green with Evil expansion features Scorpina (mini and cards), an Evil Green Ranger (mini and cards), 12 Tenga Warriors (plus cards) and 2 location boards.
The White Light expansion features the White Ranger (mini and cards), Lord Zedd (mini and cards), 12 Z Putty Patrollers (plus cards) and 2 location boards.
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